02:33 - VIGJust sayin' I remember nikarg's Sodom review on the front page, that album was like 30 years old

02:27 - ScreamingSteelUSTechnically, Che's Manunkind review was too old to be featured on the front page. That was a special exception; usually, we prefer to keep our reviews within three-to-four months, with six months as an absolute cutoff.

02:14 - VIG@Radu Of course! I don't think it's too old to be featured on the front page. Look at Che's Manunkind review

00:09 - RaduPPublished a review for an album that's a bit too old to be featured on the front page, but you guys will read it, right? [link]

01. Prelude02. Reach Out For The Light03. Serpents In Paradise04. Malleus Maleficarum05. Breaking Away06. Farewell07. The Glory Of Rome08. In Nomine Patris09. Avantasia10. A New Dimension11. Inside12. Sign Of The Cross13. The Tower

When Tobias Sammet, the singer of the German heavy metal band Edguy, started to write a parellel project to Edguy, he surely didn't expect so much congratulations from the fans that would come from all over the world. Just have a look at his guestbook!

After the Edguy album called Vain Glory Opera, Tobias has got the idea to write an entire album on a theme in order to compose a metal opera. His first motivation was to sing with other great singers who were his models such as Michael Kiske or Ronnie James Dio

Monks, fantasy worlds, mysterious books, elves and dwarves, good against evil, witch hunts and, yes you guessed correctly, power metal. Such is Avantasia - The Metal Opera. Composed by Tobias Sammet, who also does a lot of the vocal work, the singer shows that he is capable of more then 'only' Edguy (of which I personally am not so fond).

Power Metal. A ridiculed genre made fun of because of it's fascination with vocal choirs and lyrical themes (often based around swords and sorcery-type tales of good versus evil). Not many people respect it, however, but I do, and I greatly respect the musicians who stick to this type of "unpopular" genre, not least because they are almost always talented musicians, more talented in their playing than this week's favourite metalcore darlings. So imagine my joy when I came across this band called Avantasia: a group formed of one of my most admired metal vocalists (the awesome Tobias Sammet of Edguy) and one of my most admired guitarists (Gamma Ray's Henjo Richter) that also happened to feature guest vocals by Kai Hansen (THE power metal god), Angra's Andre Mateos, and Stratovarius' Timo Tolkki! Members from some of my favourite bands all on the same album! Too good to be true I thought. That's until listened to it. It was true. VERY true. Expecting a Power metal masterpiece, that is what I got.

Comments

This album is very average and I am suprised it is rated so highly. This debut is worth a listen but it remains a very bland power metal album with unfortunately few memorable tracks. Many melodies give me a feeling like "oh I've heard this Edguy, Virgin Steele, etc song before.. but hang on.. it just isn't as good or special the second time." A few tracks are even cringeworthy and seem flawed compared to other contemporary power practitioners.

Unlike most hwta i would call "flower metal" this is actually very well written (in atleast the instrumentation department). Not only is it well composed, but many of the melodies are actually pretty interesting in their unpredictability. The thing which really buzz kills the album for me are the lyrics. I guess I'm not so fond of the theme of the lyrics. More of a 7.5 for me.

I'm surprised to see the negative comments..but let me do some justice over here..This album got me into power metal and it's nothing short of astonishing...the atmosphere is surreal, the voices are the best in the business, complexity of composition, divine choruses, uplifting music, skillful slow passages, great lyrics if you are into fantasy..This album sums up the spirit of power metal, which is to be uplifting, powerful, catchy and to sing-along with your fist in the air..sorry but it's really how i feel about this album

I'm surprised to see the negative comments..but let me do some justice over here..This album got me into power metal and it's nothing short of astonishing...the atmosphere is surreal, the voices are the best in the business, complexity of composition, divine choruses, uplifting music, skillful slow passages, great lyrics if you are into fantasy..This album sums up the spirit of power metal, which is to be uplifting, powerful, catchy and to sing-along with your fist in the air..sorry but it's really how i feel about this album

Amazing one, simply a blast, all about it is top level, some bands wanna stay ''trOO'' play some bad guitar, here all is amazing, good sound, songs, tachy riffs and lyrics, basically it peace of gold. I reject and regret that I did not saw band live in Luleå

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